7/07/2009 @ 12:01AM

In Depth: World's Most Expensive Cities To Live

Our data come from Mercer’s Worldwide Cost of Living 2009 survey. Mercer’s annual survey has been designed to cater to the multinational companies and governments that use the study’s results to help determine appropriate compensation packages for employees sent abroad. One of the world’s most comprehensive cost of living surveys, Mercer’s study takes 143 cities across six continents and compares the costs of over 200 items in each location. The goods and services under inspection–including housing, transportation, food, leisure, and household supplies–are representative of executive spending patterns, and the selection of the cities reflects the request for corresponding data from the groups that use the study’s findings.

3. Moscow, Russia

March 2008 Ranking: 1

COL Index March 2008: 142.4

COL Index March 2009: 115.4

COL March 2009 vs. March 2008: -19.0%

Read on for more coverage, including an inside look at the world’s diet secrets and the world’s most stylish cities.